Mayor Bloomberg kicked off his reelection campaign last night at BB King's Blues Club. His campaign workers made sure there were Latinos in the house, and the Mayor said:
"I pledged to keep the city safe and clean and have our economy come back -- get it back on track -- and most important I pledged to reform our schools...And tonight, I can stand here and look you in the eye and say I'm keeping my promise."
Okay, the city is pretty safe and has cleaner-smelling air in bars and stuff. The economy is back, but the cost of living increases are out of control. Also, while "reforming the schools" can be construed loosely (sure, you totally reorganized the Board of Ed...or is it the Department of Education, Gothamist can never get it straight), it still remains to be seen whether the Mayor's measures are effective.
The NY Times conducted some research on the Mayor, as well as his standing versus other mayoral hopefuls such as former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Congressman Anthony Weiner, Manhattan Borough President Virigina Fields, and former Councilman Thomas Ognibene. The study says that 41% of registered voters view the Mayor favorably; while 41% sounds mediocre, that's a 10% increase from last summer. He does lead his opponents (see the NY Times graph here), but one Democratic strategist tells the Times that "Any incumbent starting off an election year with an approval rating under 50 and losing to an unnamed opponent by 22 points is in real trouble." To drive that point home, it seems that these numbers are closer to David Dinkin's pre-reelection numbers than Rudy Giuliani. Ouchy. Issues where voters are still on the fence with the Mayor are indeed education and the proposed Jets stadium on the West Side, which means Bloomberg will be working overtime to emphasize his strengths and appeal to voters that overhauling the education system will take time and he should be in office for that.
Here's the new Reelect Mike site, mikebloomberg.com - yes, it's casual "Mike" to NY voters, and "Michael" to the Wall Street commnuity! And if you go to the site, you can get a Mike Bloomberg Supporter Kit...know that while we've refrained from making the athletic supporter jokes, but we thought of many. Also, Mike's Vision for the Future - no public art projects as big as The Gates appear - and accomplishments...we do love us some 311.
